Kiwi: landing and care. Kiwi: male or female plant? Cleavage grafting

Kiwi varieties have been developed that grow well in temperate climate and withstand frosts up to 30 degrees. Therefore, more and more gardeners are planting kiwi on household plots. The best time for planting kiwi - spring and summer.

Summer planting of actinidia involves mandatory shading and abundant watering throughout the growing season. But plants that have not reached the age of 3 years can be plant in autumn before the onset of cold weather, usually September-October. It is important that the kiwifruit in the open field take root before frost, then the seedling will winter well.

Kiwis are planted in such a way that there are at least 1 male for every 10 female plants. Actinidia varieties are dioecious, that is, they do not need a pollinator, they grow normally and bear fruit in a single copy.

Kiwi is grown on acid soil. Clay dry soil is not suitable for actinidia, but ground water not desirable in close proximity to the root system. We previously wrote about .

Kiwi is a vigorous plant, in a few years liana grows up to 20 m. From each bush good care during the period of full fruiting, a crop of up to one hundred kilograms is obtained. Therefore, there is no way to do without support.

It can be a wall, a fence, metal, wooden support structures or a special trellis, gazebo, pergola. The main thing is that the support can withstand the weight of branches and fruits.

Kiwi planting

The depth of the pits or grooves for actinidia seedlings is the bayonet of a shovel. The width is 30 cm.
At the bottom of the pit, pour a layer of vermiculite, crushed stones, bricks or expanded clay, as the plant does not tolerate standing water.
Sprinkle the seedling with earth without tamping.
Water generously.
Mulch with sawdust.
Protect the plant with a trimmed 5 liter plastic bottle or mesh with agrofibre.
Drive 3 guide pegs around the perimeter of the pit. On them kiwi will trail.

The distance between seedlings is maintained in the range from 1.5 to 2.5 m. Until the plant takes root, it protect from direct sunlight. To ensure the proper development of the plant, it is planted in fertile soil with humus and wood ash, and also add mineral fertilizers – superphosphate and ammonium nitrate. It is not allowed to use chlorine-containing fertilizers for feeding actinidia.

Kiwi care

The kiwi root system is superficial, so weeding and digging the earth around the kiwi seedling is highly undesirable. Mulching near-stem circle of actinidia is a must!

Fertilizers are best applied in liquid form or scattered under a layer of mulch. Actinidia not drought tolerant plant. For the first few years, garden kiwis are regularly and plentifully watered.

Frost-resistant varieties of actinidia

Actinidia kolomikta- most frost-resistant variety. It grows like a liana, twisting around a support, or as a stunted shrub.
Actinidia argument differs in large sizes. The length of its trunk reaches 25 m.
Actinidia polygamist- the most valuable medicinal plant. In terms of vitamin C content, it is far superior to known plants.
Karpat Straton Valentine is a new variety of frost-resistant kiwi, bred by Ukrainian breeder Heinrich Straton.

Bloom

In April - June (depending on the variety), actinidia is covered with creamy white or pink flowers with wonderful aroma. Abundant flowering lasts 2-3 weeks. Female and male plants differ in the structure of inflorescences. Male inflorescences are characterized by the presence of yellow anthers (actinidia kolomikta and polygamum) and black (argut) color.

Pollination occurs with the help of wind, as well as insects - bumblebees or bees. Pollination of dioecious varieties is possible only if the male and female vines are of the same variety.

After flowering is completed, the female flowers form an ovary. The fruits are harvested in August-September. They have an oblong shape, yellow-green or light Orange color and a pleasant pineapple scent. The skin of the fruit is smooth or pubescent.

Formation

Actinidia can and should be formed. Here are a few options for liana palmettes. Formation will take several years.

top dressing

Fertilizers are applied to the soil according to a certain scheme.

autumn:

humus - 2-3 kg / sq.m;
superphosphate - 40-50 g / sq.m;
potassium salt - 10-15 g / sq.m.

spring: ammonium nitrate - 20-30 g / sq.m

In hot weather, plants need to be watered regularly. Upper layer periodically loosen, mixing with sawdust and peat.

reproduction

Actinidia is propagated cuttings, seeds and root cuttings. Most fast way- Rooting cuttings. In early spring, before the start of sap flow, cuttings up to 30 cm long are cut out and placed in a nutrient substrate for several buds. Then watered and covered with polyethylene.

When 3 leaves appear, the plant is gradually accustomed to life without a greenhouse, and then taken out to the street or balcony. In August, a rooted and strengthened cutting can be planted in open ground.

Kiwi seeds are soaked in hot water per day (in a thermos). Sowed to a depth of 1 cm. Top can be sprinkled with sand. They build a greenhouse from polyethylene or a jar and put it in a warm, bright place for germination. We stock up on patience - the seeds will sprout in 3 months. And the fruits will appear in best case after 6 years.

Preparing for winter

In autumn, unviable shoots are removed, young shoots are covered with spruce branches or peat. Mature plants endure winter weather without shelter, tied to trellises. The root system is carefully insulated with peat or humus.

E. Kolbasina's tips for growing kiwi in the garden:
"For the successful growth of kiwi fruit in the garden, a subtropical climate is required: warm, long frost-free growing season, high humidity air. Grafted varietal kiwi seedlings after planting in the garden on permanent place they begin fruiting at 3-4 years, enter full fruiting at 7 years and bring yields up to 40 years of age. Breeding kiwi varieties are grafted onto seedlings in a split and a shield. In addition, kiwi is propagated vegetatively by stem or root cuttings, layering in early spring(laying down the shoot and digging it into the ground).
To create favorable conditions for the growth of kiwi in the garden, climate and soil are primarily taken into account. Kiwi shoots are threatened by late spring frosts and winds. To prevent kiwi vines on trellises from breaking from the wind, various wind-retaining devices are used. During the heat in the summer, sprinkling and irrigation of kiwi is carried out. Actinidia kiwi does not work well on dense soils that do not allow moisture to pass through, so artificial drainage is recommended when planting. Kiwi loves alluvial, loose, even with stones of the soil. Planting of kiwi seedlings in a permanent place is carried out in early spring according to the scheme of 5x6 meters. Due to the powerful growth of vines (they can reach a height of 7-8 meters) and their garters on trellises in the shape of the letter "T", it is considered the most convenient to grow them like a tall vineyard.
When planting seedlings, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers (150-200 g each) are applied to each planting hole. In the future, fertilizers are applied during the summer in three periods, depending on the phase of growth and development of vines, in total per plant in total: nitrogen - 500 g, phosphorus - 135 g, potassium - 240 g, magnesium - 75 g. They are given parts: in March, strictly before the start of the growing season, in May at the end of frost, in September after the formation of fruits. It is recommended to sow legumes between rows.
Due to the superficially located root system, it is impossible to deeply loosen the soil around the kiwi vines, as well as to apply herbicides. In dry weather, kiwi vines in the garden must be sprayed with water, watered and mulched.
Kiwi pruning is carried out for fruiting and for the formation of a bush: plants are cut late autumn(at the end of fruiting) and in summer (for thinning the crown). When pruning for fruiting, you need to keep in mind that actinidia bears fruit on the first five eyes. Therefore, kiwi shoots are pruned after harvesting the last crop in late autumn by 4-5 eyes, removing fruit-bearing branches; leave only young shoots for replacement. Summer kiwi pruning is carried out to improve the yield, thinning the crown so that the pruning is not excessive, otherwise the next year's fruit yield will decrease. When forming, the most healthy and powerful kiwi shoots are left, and all others are cut out. The balance between the above-ground part of plants and their root system should not be disturbed.
Insect pollinators of kiwi are domestic bees and bumblebees. Without pollination by bees, more small berries, and with pollination, more large fruits are formed.

Having planted an exotic perennial Actinidia vine for the first time on their site, closer to the arrival of winter, gardeners begin to worry about its safety. Their experiences are quite justified: the plant migrated to our area from South-East Asia, where the climate is significantly different from the conditions of the middle zone. Therefore, in order for the vine to bloom in the spring, autumn care and preparation for winter must be made especially carefully.

Features of preparing actinidia for winter - general tips and tricks

Whether the autumn care for actinidia is correctly carried out depends on whether the site will be decorated with openwork weaving of thin stems. To protect actinidia from its inherent diseases and prepare the plant for the onset of cold weather, the following steps must be taken.

Watering. It is necessary to moisten a climbing plant only in the case of a long absence of rain. About 6-8 buckets of water are poured under the root of one plant.

Top dressing. In autumn, organics are brought under an exotic liana or phosphorus-potassium fertilizers and then dig deep trunk circle. For fertilizer per 1 sq.m, it will be enough to plant 2-3 kg of rotted mullein or horse manure, 50 g of superphosphate, 15 g of potassium salt into the soil.

Instead of phosphate and salt, you can use multi-component mineral fertilizers, which contain phosphorus and potassium and no nitrogen. Actinidia can be fed with compost based on the calculation of 2-3 buckets per plant.

Important! The roots of the creeper are located close to the surface, therefore, in order not to damage them, the turning depth should be less than 30 cm.

Pruning. During pruning, it is important not only to follow the technology of manipulation, but also to take into account the characteristics of the cultivated variety. For example, actinidia arguta sets fruits exclusively on short branches, therefore, to increase the yield of the vine, you need to regularly shorten the shoots and thin out the crown more intensively.

You can pinch the twigs of kolomikta only when the plant reaches the age of 7-10 years. Instead of pruning, the old vine is replaced by a young one.

Polygama ties berries on shortened branches, so even a small cut off of them entails a decrease in yield.

Mulching. Because the roots climbing plant located shallow, the soil around the perimeter of the rhizome is covered with a layer of dry organic materials. It is necessary to start laying out peat or dry leaves immediately after the onset of constant cold weather.

Shelter. On the territory of our country, three varieties of actinidia have gained popularity: kolomikta, acute, polygamous. If the first grade is able to withstand temperatures down to -35C and winters well without shelter, then the other two need careful warming.

Video: preparing actinidia for winter in the fall.

pruning in autumn

The peculiarity of pruning actinidia lies in the structure of the vine. The plant consists of 3 types of branches:

Growth or vegetative. Fruits are not tied on such branches.
Vegetative-generative. Fruits are formed only at the top and bottom of the branch.
Generative. side shoots on which the bulk of the fruit is formed.

When determining which species the shoot belongs to, one must take into account the fact that the vine forms fruits only on the branches of the flow year.

Why trim

As the cold weather approaches, gardeners are thinking about the advisability of removing branches. Due to ignorance of the intricacies of growing actinidia, many summer residents do not cut the plant, which has a very detrimental effect on the vine.

Pruning should be done in order to:

prevent excessive crown density;
increase disease resistance;
activate the growth of new branches;
increase the volume of the crop and its quality;
give the vine the desired shape.

Judging by the number of positive properties that the autumn pruning of actinidia carries, manipulation is necessary. exotic plant for further development.

When is the best time to prune - in spring or autumn

Optimal time for pruning actinidia comes in early spring, when the plant has not yet woken up and in late autumn, after shedding leaves.

It is impossible to delay the spring shearing: if the manipulation is carried out in April, when the sap flow began, the plant will secrete juice at the cut points for a long time. Poorly healed wounds can cause the death of the vine.

Pruning time in autumn

As soon as stable sub-zero temperatures are established at night, and the vine sheds all the leaves, you can proceed to autumn pruning. Depending on the weather of the climatic zone where actinidia is grown, the branches are removed in October-November.

Important! It is impossible to cut the vine before the specified time - due to the removal of branches, when the sap flow has not yet ended, the plant will sap for a long time, as a result of which it will greatly weaken and die.

How to prune actinidia in the fall - instructions and diagram

Due to the fact that actinidia grows shoots very quickly, in order to prevent a strong thickening of the crown, the vine must be cut regularly. Proper shearing not only increases immunity to diseases and improves yields, but also makes actinidia more resistant to cold, which is very important when growing relatively heat-loving specimens.

The sequence of autumn pruning of actinidia is as follows:

Dried, diseased, mechanically damaged or too sagging branches are removed to the second living kidney.
One or two fruiting branches for 3 years are replaced by young ones. The age of the branch is determined by the color of the bark and its thickness.
Growth branches are shortened, leaving at the base a shoot no less than 50 cm long.
Mixed shoots are shortened to a length of 30-40 cm.
Old, poorly fruiting branches are cut off under the ring.
Pruning in subsequent years comes down to thinning the crown and cutting off dried branches.

As a result of carefully following the instructions for autumn pruning of actinidia, which even beginners in gardening can handle, you can achieve abundant fruiting and maximum decorative effect.

Video: pruning actinidia in the fall for beginners.

Care after pruning

After finishing work on the territory where actinidia grows, they rake fallen leaves and cut off shoots, pile them up, and then take them out of the site and burn them.

Top dressing after pruning under the vine is not made. After all unnecessary branches have been removed and productive ones have been shortened, they begin to prepare actinidia for shelter.

Shelter for the winter

The vast majority of species have very low cold resistance - when the temperature drops to -10C, the plant freezes completely. The remaining varieties, among which the most popular kolomikta and Geneva, are able to endure a drop in temperature from -23 to -35 C.

Video: features of actinidia shelter for the winter.

Do I need to cover actinidia for the winter

Whether or not to cover the vine for the winter depends on the variety and age of the plant. Species that do not have high frost resistance must be covered, otherwise heat-loving vines will freeze out in the middle of winter. Even if actinidia manages to endure extreme wintering, it will bear fruit poorly.

Regardless of the cultivar, vines planted in the current autumn need warming. Representatives of cold-resistant species can winter without shelter at all.

How to properly cover for the winter

To protect the actinidia from the cold, the trunk circle is mulched with a layer of peat, straw, sawdust or spruce branches 5-10 cm thick. Then the plant is untied from the supports and carefully laid on the litter. From above, the shoots are covered with a thick layer of mulch, and so that it is not blown away by gusty winter winds, they apply spruce branches. If the winter turned out to be little snowy, snow is regularly poured over the shelter during the winter.

Less frost-resistant varieties, such as polygamous actinidia and acute actinidia, are prepared for winter in the same way as grapes. Depending on weather conditions, the vine is covered partially or completely. In the first case, the lower part of the vine is spudded, and the upper part is wrapped with dense material. Complete shelter of actinidia for the winter is carried out as follows:

The branches of the liana are collected in a loose bundle, and then bent to the ground.
A layer of rags is laid on top, which is covered with polyethylene.
Shelter is sprinkled with a 20 cm layer of soil.

Attention! If a prolonged thaw occurs in winter, the shelter must be slightly opened so that the vine does not rot.

The shelter clause would be incomplete without a mention of the threat. spring frosts. In most cases winter shelter filmed in April, but often the weather presents unpleasant surprises in the form of May frosts, which can destroy awakened buds. To prevent freezing, the vine is wrapped in lutrasil or spunbond.

Video: actinidia shelter for the winter.

What are the features of preparing for winter in the regions

Depending on the variety and weather of the growing region, "kiwi" (as actinidia is popularly called) is covered in different ways. In order for the plant to overwinter well, it is necessary to correctly determine the method of shelter by comparing the characteristics of the variety and environmental conditions.

In the middle lane

Grown in this region, adult actinidia kolomikta (garden), hibernates without shelter. Acute and polygamous actinidia in the Moscow region is covered for the winter with mulch, which is applied with branches.

In the Volga region

Heat-loving varieties of actinidia are insulated from below and above with a layer of mulch, which is covered with building materials. To prevent mice from settling inside the shelter, poison for rodents is laid out near the branches.

In the Urals and Siberia

Due to the harsh climate in Siberia and the Urals, actinidia is insulated for the winter using the full shelter method, which is described in detail above.

Typical mistakes of leaving in the fall and preparing for winter

To avoid illness and plant death caused by improper actions during winter preparation, the following are the most common mistakes in the care of actinidia in the fall.

All varieties are cut according to the same pattern. During the removal of branches, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the cultivated variety, since their representatives may react differently to the same action.
Shelter deadlines are not respected. Too early warming ends with the death of the vine.
Liana is cut during active sap flow. Wounds after untimely pruning do not heal, and the vine slowly expires with juice and dies.

To keep actinidia in your area until the next season, you need to properly care for it in the fall - cut it off in a timely manner and properly cover it for the winter. Your care will be rewarded wonderful decoration plot throughout the summer and a bountiful harvest of useful fruits.

In contact with

Household farming in the early 90s

In European countries, it has become common to see kiwi fruits in shop windows. And in our country, many gardeners still do not know anything about this “new” berry crop.

Kiwi is one of the latest "tamed" by man wild plants. It is from the Actinidia family, the genus Actinidia. Descended from wild-growing actinidia chinensis.

Plants of this genus are perennial deciduous woody vines. Distributed from 51 ° north to 8 ° south latitude in China, Japan, Indochina, Manchuria and in our Far Eastern forests. There are 36 species in total, and most of them are thermophilic, tropical and subtropical. In our country, 4 species are found in a wild state: actinidia kolomikta, arguta, Giralda, polygamum. Lianas with their stems and young shoots wrap around a support - trees, shrubs or trellises. According to biological properties and chemical composition fruits, all actinidia, including the species we have, and kiwi are in many ways similar. The fruits contain a record amount of vitamin C and other biologically active substances. Unlike our actinidia, kiwi fruits must be peeled before use. It is covered with dense pubescence of red short hairs. It is peeled off like the skin of a boiled potato. The berry is juicy, with delicate green flesh, very pleasant sour-sweet taste, with a strong pineapple aroma. Inside is a light green soft, sweet-tasting core, to which numerous small dark brown seeds are attached. When eating, they are not felt and only give the berry a slight nutty flavor. There are about a thousand seeds in one kiwi berry. Fruits are eaten only when fully ripe, soft. Kiwi has a large fruit size (in the original wild species actinidia chinensis, fruit weight is 30 g.) Now breeding varieties have a fruit weight of up to 100 g.

The first kiwi varieties were created as a result of a long (since 1906) selection in New Zealand: Hayward, Bruno, Allison, Monty, Abbott, as well as pollinating varieties Matua and Tomuri.

First brought to New Zealand from China, an actinidia sinensis plant called yang-tao, or "Chinese gooseberry." Bred cultivars renamed "kiwi", as the fruits turned out to be similar in appearance to this bird, the emblem of the country. Then in Europe, in particular in France, where kiwi began to spread widely, the fruits began to be called "plant mouse".

Kiwi plants reach a height of 7-8 m, young shoots, leaves and fruits are covered with thick red hairs. The leaves are very large, oval or rounded, dark green. The buds appear in the axils of the leaves on young shoots of the current year. The growth of the shoots is very fast: three weeks after the start of bud bloom, they can reach a length of 15-20 cm. Flowering lasts from late May to early June - about 10 days. Kiwi plants, like other types of actinidia, are dioecious, that is, there are male and female.

Sex is determined in the first year of flowering and does not change until the end of the life of the vine. Male plants have numerous stamens in the flower, while female plants have bisexual flowers, they have a large pistil in the center and numerous small stamens around. Pollen in them is often non-viable and self-pollination does not occur. Pollen from the stamens of male flowers to female flowers is carried by wind or insects. In the flowers of a female plant, the pistil is located above the stamens, which is also an adaptation for cross-pollination with foreign pollen. We can talk about the functionally female actinidia flower. Insect pollinators of kiwi are domestic bees and bumblebees. On plantations, it is recommended to put 8 hives per 1 hectare. Without pollination by bees, more small berries are formed, and with pollination by bees, more fruits are formed with an average weight above 80 g. Unripe fruits are hard. When they ripen, they become soft. Because of the pubescence, kiwi berries are very transportable. They are transported in special refrigerators over long distances from New Zealand to all countries of the world. Ripe kiwi fruit can be stored in the refrigerator for 6-8 weeks.

To create a kiwi vine garden, climate and soils must be taken into account. In France, for example, the main obstacle is late spring frosts and winds. Buds begin to bloom in March, when spring frosts can kill young shoots. Creepers on trellises are also prone to breakage from strong wind, and therefore use various wind-retaining devices. During the heat of summer, kiwi plantations are sprinkled and irrigated.

Actinidia kiwi does not work well on dense soils that do not allow moisture to pass through. Therefore, artificial drainage is recommended. She loves alluvial, loose, even with stones of the soil. On industrial kiwi plantations, irrigation facilities are arranged, which are used for sprinkling in early spring in order to combat frost, and in summer for irrigation.

Planting seedlings in a permanent place is carried out in early spring. Plants are planted according to the scheme 5X6 m. Due to the powerful growth of vines and their tying on trellises in the shape of the letter “T”, it is considered the most convenient to grow them like a high vineyard. In France, on industrial plantations, kiwi shoots are cut to 4-5 eyes in winter, after the last harvest.

Pruning is carried out for the formation of a bush and for fruiting. When forming, the most healthy and powerful shoots are left, and all others are cut out. When pruning for fruiting, you need to keep in mind that actinidia bears fruit on the first five eyes. Plants are pruned in two terms: in winter, immediately after harvesting the fruits, and in summer - to thin the crown. During winter pruning, fruiting branches are removed, leaving only young shoots for replacement. Summer pruning is carried out to improve the yield, thinning the crown, but so that the pruning is not excessive. Otherwise, next year the fruit yield will decrease. The balance between the above-ground part of plants and their root system should never be disturbed. When pruning Care is needed, and then, as those gardeners who have devoted their labors to the kiwi liana believe: “You will be happy with your vine if it is happy with you as a master owner.”

When planting seedlings, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers (150-200 g each) are applied to the planting pit. In the future, fertilizers are applied during the summer in 3 terms, depending on the phase of growth and development of vines, in total, per plant, nitrogen 500 g, phosphorus 135 g, potassium 240 g and magnesium 75 g. They are given in parts: in March strictly before the beginning of the growing season, in May after the frosts have passed, and in September after the formation of fruits.

In the aisles, grassing is usually carried out or legumes are sown. Due to the superficially located root system, it is impossible to deeply loosen the soil around the vines, as well as to apply herbicides. In dry weather, creepers in the garden are sprayed with water, watered and mulched the soil under them.

Grafted varietal seedlings after planting in a permanent place in the garden begin to bear fruit in the 3rd-4th year. They enter full fruiting in the 7-8th year and bring a crop up to 40 years of age.

To grow kiwifruit in a garden, you need to have a suitable planting material. It is obtained by grafting breeding varieties onto kiwi seedlings. To obtain seedlings, seeds are selected from mature berries, washed from pulp and stratified. First they are kept in wet sand for 2-3 weeks at a temperature of 10-20°C, and then for at least two weeks at 4-5°C. Apply vaccinations in the cleft and shield. In addition, kiwi is propagated vegetatively by stem or root cuttings. Shoots are cut during their intensive growth, with 3-4 buds on the handle. Leave the top two sheets, the rest are removed. The cuttings are placed in a fogger or in a greenhouse with a mixture of soil, sand and vermiculite (perlite). Plant them vertically. Roots appear after 3-4 weeks.

Root cuttings are cut 3-8 cm long and planted horizontally, laying on a layer of sterilized soil, and completely covered with earth. Layering can also be done in early spring by laying the shoot and digging it into the ground. In our experiments, kiwi rooted well in summer stem cuttings, but left for the winter in greenhouses, they completely died. The same thing happened with seedlings obtained from seeds, left for the winter in a greenhouse. In a heated greenhouse, seedlings grow rapidly and can be used for planting in open ground in more southern regions.

Acclimatization, flowering and fruiting of kiwi are possible in the subtropics - on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, in Georgia. There, work has begun on the cultivation of kiwifruit and the production of seedlings of selective foreign varieties. Kiwi needs a subtropical climate: warm, long frost-free growing season, high humidity. At the same time promoting this valuable culture to the north, purposeful work on crossing actinidia chinensis with other, more frost-resistant species will contribute. For the first time, American gardener David Ferchald crossed Chinese actinidia with actinidia arguta in 1927 in California. According to him, in the future, new researchers will return to crossing actinidia, when Halley's comet returns in 70 years and new astronomers will observe it. Indeed, breeders' interest in obtaining new hybrids through hybridization and selection has recently revived.

Our more frost-resistant actinidias are not inferior in fruit quality to kiwi, but they are only introduced into cultivation and have smaller fruits. It should be noted that actinidia kolomikta contains almost 10 times more vitamin C than kiwi. In the fruits of kiwi varieties, there are only about 100-150 mg% of ascorbic acid, and in the fruits of actinidia kolomikta 1000-1200 mg%. Two actinidia kolomikta berries are enough to satisfy the daily requirement of the human body for vitamin C.

Gardeners in the northern regions may well propagate frost-resistant actinidia so that it takes its rightful place.
E. Kolbasina, candidate of biological sciences

To print

Lyudmila Arkhipova January 28, 2014 | 7605

It turns out that even such a tropical plant as Chinese actinidia can be planted in the garden. It is not difficult to grow it from seeds, but you need to remember that kiwis need abundant watering.

Enjoying a very ripe kiwi fruit, I found many small black seeds. After washing them with water, I soaked them in aloe juice overnight. Part of the seeds sowed superficially, the other - sprinkled with a thin layer of sand (all in one container), covered and placed on the windowsill. After 10 days friendly appeared seedlings. In spite of different ways sowing, I did not notice any differences, perhaps, when watering, the sand was evenly distributed over the surface and covered the unsprinkled seeds. Having removed the lid, she left the seedlings until spring on the windowsill in a cool office.

Kiwi shoots safely overwintered and grew up, I didn’t even dive them. spring landed seedlings in open ground, one of them was planted at the well, where the plant got a lot of water. And in the first year it gave an increase of 2 m. The rest of the seedlings grew to 50-100 cm. transplant discovered that root system surface, so the soil should be loose, air and moisture permeable.

In autumn, the foliage turned yellow and fell off. She did not cover the first winter with anything, as a result, the weaker seedlings froze out, some partially froze, but over the summer they quickly recovered, giving several shoots and forming a trunk and "sleeves" like those of grapes.

Knowing that Chinese actinidia is a dioecious liana, she left three plants for herself in the hope that they would be of different sexes. Now yearly shelter for the winter bole one and a half meters, wrapping newspapers in several layers. Plants with this insulation did not freeze any more, but a late frost last spring killed most of the flower buds. Several survived on one shoot, located closer to the roof of the house. Bloom I discovered it by accident, since the liana is very powerful, densely leafy, and if the faded flower had not fallen right under my feet, I would have missed the long-awaited moment. I examined a few more buds and opened flowers in the crown. They look like wild rose flowers, have a pleasant aroma. But, as I later realized, my largest plant turned out to be male, and naturally I did not wait for the fruits. It would be a shame if the other two turned out to be the same.

When growing actinidia without pruning and formation crowns can't get by. The growth per season is several meters long, and if not shortened in time, the shoots reach neighboring plants, which may die as a result of strangulation. But you can’t cut the plants in early spring at the beginning of sap flow, as I did, almost killing the vine. It expired for several days, and this despite my efforts to stop the juice with the help of garden pitch. But in summer and autumn, you can form a plant without problems.

I feed infusion chicken manure, fermented grass (comfrey, nettle, clover, onion and garlic peel), ash, mulch the soil around the plants with compost and sunflower husks. I hope that in the future I will not only see flowering, but also try my own kiwis.